


Theodora

by barryallenisravenclaw



Category: DC Comics, Justice League International (Comics)
Genre: Booster deserves to be happy gosh darn it, Earth-11, F/M, Fluff, Multiverse, Post-Ted Death, dimension hopping, fem!Ted, fem!Ted but it's cute, i don't hate the gay it's just a new idea, other earth's are cool, sad Booster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-11 09:30:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13521405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barryallenisravenclaw/pseuds/barryallenisravenclaw
Summary: Booster has been missing Ted recently and Skeets thinks of a way to remedy that, and it works out better than anyone thought it would. But wait, who's that woman in Ted's apartment?





	Theodora

"Five years." Booster sighed as he knelt in front of the grave. "Five years and not a day goes by that I don't think about you. I know it's unhealthy. I tried therapy, it didn't work. And that was Batman's therapist. I guess that's why he's still Batman."

Booster rearranged the new flowers and felt a tear run down his face. "Dammit, Ted. Why'd you have to go and be such a hero?"

Booster traced the name on the grave marker, the cold of the stone seeping into his fingers and making them numb. He left his hand over the name. Theodore Stephan "Don't Call Me Theodore" Kord. 

"I just wish I could see you again..." The phrase came out in a broken sob. "I know I can't save you. I'm not happy about it, but I know it's true. And somehow that only makes it harder to cope. Sure we had our off years, but I always considered you my best friend. More than that. You're in your own damn category. I think that's why it still hurts so much, Dr Tompkins said we had codependency issues."

"Don't forget the unrequited love she mentioned, sir." Came a tinny voice next to Booster's ear.

"Gah! Skeets, flerg, don't sneak up on me like that!" Booster exclaimed, batting at Skeets a little. "I'm talking to Ted!"

"Sir, I think you should talk to another psychologist," Skeets continued.

"And I think you should respect my wish to be alone at Ted's grave." Booster countered.

"Apologies, sir," Booster was impressed to note he really did sound sorry, "but you stood in front of it for ten minutes without saying anything and then began talking to yourself. I grew concerned for your safety."

Booster sighed and pulled Skeets in for a hug. "I was just thinking, Skeets."

"That never bodes well," muttered the trusty robot.

"I was thinking," Booster continued, politely ignoring Skeets' comment, "of all the infinite universes, why'd Ted have to die in mine?"

"Well," Skeets suggested, voice dripping with sarcasm, "you could always get the Flash to take you to a different universe."

Belatedly, after seeing Booster's face lit up like a holiday object, Skeets remembered that his circuitry didn't properly transcribe sarcasm.

"That's a great idea, Skeets!" Booster beamed, missing the sigh from his companion. "I'll call Wally, tell him some bullshit about needing to fix the time stream in an unknown universe, and I'll find a new Ted! It's so simple!"

Skeets rolled his "eye." This was most certainly not going to end well.

\-----

"You need me to what?" Wally asked, punching Pied Piper in the face one last time, then turning to Booster with eyebrows raised. At least Booster thought they were raised. It was so hard to tell with the white covering over his cowl's eye holes.

"Rip called me and told me he's on another Earth and I have to save him, only his transmission cut out before he could say which Earth he's on." Booster gave Wally his cheesiest grin. "Can you run me to a couple and help me find him?"

Wally stared at the taller man like he had lost his mind. "You do realise it's not that simple, right?"

"Well, no." Booster replied. Wally pinched the bridge of his nose. "I mean how hard can it be? You just do your vibratey-thing and we're in a different place, right?"

"I have to aim for the right frequency, which in this case we're not even sure what frequently I'm aiming for, and dragging you and Skeets along makes it a lot harder on me. I'll get exhausted after two, maybe three jumps. Who knows if we'll be in danger or something. I can't risk passing out on you when we get there." Wally looked back up at Booster. "I'm sorry, dude, but you're gonna have to come up with another way to find Rip."

Booster pulled up a fake grin. "It's all good. I'm sure Rip'll be fine, anyhow. He's like Batman, if you let him he can usually get out of it on his own. See you around, kid!"

"Dude, I'm like five years younger than you," Wally replied.

Booster turned moony eyed. "Ah, youth."

Wally rolled his eyes. "See you, Booster," and shot off.

Booster sighed as he took to the skies. "Well, now I'm depressed again."

"And to think, you were having such great progress," Skeets muttered. "Next you'll be saying something crazy like 'Skeets, why don't you use your internal dimensio-drive to fling us to a Ted?' As if I'd ever..."

Poor Skeets. The one time Booster is listening.

Booster and Skeets soon arrived on a rather nice-looking Earth. Booster appreciated the similarities to his earth, noting that pretty much everything looked exactly the same. He decided to fly around a bit and check it out.

Then, he heard a small squeak of surprise. He stopped flying and landed on a balcony, only belatedly realising that it was Ted's old balcony. For you see, that squeak had sounded just like Ted.

Another, slightly louder squeak occurred behind him, and then a threat before he could turn around. "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but this isn't funny. Get the hell off my balcony or I'm calling security."

The voice was female, but held a certain familiar quality. Booster decided to go for it. "Can I at least turn around and face you before you shoot me?"

The woman said nothing, considering it, then agreed. "Fine. But don't try to point any blasters at me."

He turned around and the woman gasps. "What in...?"

Booster was also speechless. The woman had big blue eyes and short, curly auburn hair. She was slightly below average height and a little squishy around the middle. Booster knew who she was before he even noticed her BB gun. She was Ted Kord.

"Teddy!" Booster exclaimed, wrapping her in a hug before she could shoot him. He couldn't help it, he started crying.

"B-Booster?" Slowly, she hugged him back. "How? What? Male?" She started crying too, then together they choked out an "I missed you so much."

They didn't pull apart until Skeets spoke up. "Sir, perhaps it would be prudent to move off the balcony."

Booster jumped away from Lady Ted. "Right, yeah, thanks Skeets. You probably don't want anyone seeing my shiny ass on your balcony, eh, T--- Ms. Kord?"

She cleared her throat. "Yeah, of course, come in."

They entered the apartment and she collapsed on the couch, still looking shocked. The living room was configured just how Booster remembered. "Make yourself comfortable. You too, Skeets."

"Thanks." Booster sat down on the ground across the coffee table from her. "I'm Michael, by the way."

She she stared at the wall for a second before shaking herself out of it. "Right. Yeah. Sorry." She extended a hand and they shook. "Theodora Kord. But you knew the last name, didn't you?"

Booster nodded. They stayed in silence for another second before both trying to talk at the same time. Theodora waved him on, figuring he could give her a better explanation if she didn't hold him up with questions.

"Ok. Basically, I'm from another dimension. You probably guessed that." She nodded, and he let off a nervous smile. "Right. Of course. Look, there's no easy way to say this, but on my Earth... Ted Kord was killed five years ago."

Her jaw dropped. "That's when you died! Well, Michelle, via Maxine Lord's insanity, but you get it. Actually, this is weird, but you look exactly like her twin Michael. You probably have a twin Michelle, then?"

"Yeah, she's back home." Booster nodded. He's vaguely grateful that she didn't lead with "that's how Michelle died" or he might have had a heart attack. He winced inwardly. Bad choice of phrasing when talking to someone who had most likely suffered a heart attack.

"Max shot my Ted. Apparently he was trying to take over the world or some shit. Anyway, I was at his grave this morning and Skeets gave me the idea that I should search the multiverse for a new Ted. He brought me to you." Booster explained and Theodora got a familiar look in her eye. She was about to science the heck out of this.

"Fascinating." She shot him a smile. "Sorry, been watching a lot of Star Trek recently. I visited my Booster's grave this morning, too. Except Skeets didn't take me to your dimension because after Shel died, Skeets went back to the future." She starts pacing. "Are other events of our lives the same as well? Let's see, we were in the JLI, I had a heart attack, you got married then divorced... More obvious... Fundamental... My father died when I was thirteen. Your mother convinced you to bet on your games. I own a tech company, you do toothpaste and underwear ads. You used to work in a museum. I'm from Chicago, you're from Gotham. Is this accurate?"

Booster nodded. "Just flip the genders."

Theodora's eyes widened. "Then everything is the same. The only difference is our genders. Huh. Weird." She gets an odd expression. "Were you... Never mind. Hey, do you want a drink?"

The two of them, with Skeets pitching in on occasion, compared notes and reminisced for the next few hours. Booster couldn't believe the similarities of their experiences. It really was an exact copy of his universe. Soon enough, it was dark out. Teddy said he could stay the night on her couch, and as he fell asleep he decided that he wanted to stay here, on this Earth.

Teddy fully supported Booster, after of course he reassured her that he wasn't needed on his Earth. Booster was disappointed when she didn't offer to become roommates, but he kind of expected it. After all, though it may have felt like the opposite, they hardly knew each other.

So, Booster rented an apartment, moved his stuff, and let Batman and Rip and Michelle know where he was going just in case. Michelle was sad, but it sort of felt like he was just moving to a different city. With Skeets around, he could even go see Michelle for their birthday. Batman called this new earth Earth-11, though Booster had no idea what the other nine were like. Apparently they were Earth-1. Score.

It was surprisingly easy for Booster to get a job as a model again, which was a damn good thing because Booster didn't have many other skills. He hung out with Teddy a lot, even met some of the Justice League that she knew. Talking to Baltasar DaCosta and Tore Olafson was definitely weird, especially because his Tora was dead, but Booster thought the scariest one was Gal Gardner. Booster shuddered. At least she didn't have a bowl cut.

Eventually, Earth-11 became Booster's home. He thought that had something to do with Theodora.

See, Booster had never told anyone this but, he was hardcore in love with his male Ted Kord when Ted was alive. He never brought it up because he was sure Ted was straight. But now, knowing Teddy as a woman and being just as attracted to her, she being straight would be a good thing. He'd already talked to her about her ex-boyfriend Mel (that's Melvin, not Melody), so he knows she's into guys. The next step was to find out if she liked Booster.

But let's be honest, who didn't like Booster?

(Batman didn't count.)

He came over to her place for their usual Tuesday Night Movie Marathon and put in a crappy movie. Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders, he thought it said. He wasn't paying much attention to the movie because that was the night he wanted to make his move.

They were sitting on Teddy's couch, about a foot apart, when Booster decided to try something unorthodox. He didn't want to do the old "fake yawn and put your arm around her" bit, mostly because Teddy was jerking around with laughter. The movie was really bad, but they had commentary on which made it hilarious. No, Booster was going to do something unmistakable. He was going to hold her hand.

It was a risky venture, he was aware. However, consider this: going all in on a half-assed plan was Booster's go-to move. He glanced down at her hand. It was on her knee, which was fairly close to his own considering that the rest of them was so far apart. She sat like a guy, manspreading.

Then, right before Booster could subtly slide his hand over hers, Teddy moved. She suddenly picked up her legs and curled up into a ball, her body sliding towards his so she was sideways on the couch. Before she landed on Booster's arm, though, he smartly lifted it up and over Teddy so that she was in the crook of his arm.

Booster was in shock. He didn't know what to do. All the bodily contact was short-circuiting his brain. Teddy was Right There.

"Hey, Teddy?" He winced. No, stop talking, you idiot. She'll move if you talk.

She didn't look up at him, just snickered before answering. "Mhm?"

"Did you uh..." No! Stop talking! Booster's mouth had gone dry. "Were you..." Booster could almost hear it in Skeets' voice now, yelling abort! Abort tactic!

Teddy laughed loudly at the tv again and threw one of her arms onto his leg. "Did I what, Boost?"

Fuck it. "I really like your laugh and I'd like to kiss you now."

Her eyes widened as she looked up at him. She paused the movie. "Okay."

Turns out, Teddy had been in love with her Booster Gold before she died and was thinking exactly what Booster had been. You only live once, right? (In most cases.) Might as well find happiness with a similar version of your best friend if you can.

They may have gotten a little carried away that night and become engaged.


End file.
